As space stations become a reality, means must be found for transporting an astronaut from one point to another along the exterior of the station so that extravehicular tasks may be performed, such as maintenance and repair.
In the past, a number of techniques has been proposed for transporting crew and equipment along various points of a space station with safety and speed. A common concept is to employ a hand rail about the space station structure to permit an astronaut to "climb" along the rail in a hand-over-hand manner. Since an astronaut is encumbered by a space suit and since stability is decreased in a sharply reduced gravitational field, hand-over-hand translation is relatively slow and tedious. A tether between the rail and the astronaut is essential in order to ensure the astronaut's safety in the event of a misstep.
Certain prior art approaches require the tether to be connected and disconnected each time the supporting hand rail reaches an intersection with differently directed rails. Of course, this slows down the astronaut's travel and decreases productivity.